


Steel Walls and Locked Doors

by DawnBently



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-26
Updated: 2012-08-26
Packaged: 2017-11-10 18:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/469369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnBently/pseuds/DawnBently
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The time has come and the world needs Arthur and his knights again. Merlin and Morgana bring them all together to fight off the evil that's returned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Though the timing of the show would historically be during the 5th and 6th centuries, I've made the story older than it traditionally is. I hope you still enjoy it! :)

He just woke up one morning, and it was all suddenly different. He couldn't even place it, but somewhere deep down in his chest behind all the steel walls and locked doors something was different—and terribly so. Walking down the hallway from his bedroom, everything was as he left it the night before—dirty plates in the sink, empty mug on the coffee table, old tea bag sitting all dried up and shriveled on the counter—and yet there was something fundamentally different about it all. Behind him, he heard the jingle of the lock on his door—how she found him so quickly, he'll never ask—and when he turned back, found her in the entry way, the door left carelessly half open behind her as she continued forward. She either picked the lock or used a spell, but he knew that wasn't of any importance. 

"I felt it," she declared, the three words hanging between them. The words themselves had a meaning that Merlin tipped his head in a nod to acknowledge. That was the most important thing, that it had all begun again. His mind, however, was stuck on the sound of her voice, a voice he'd not heard in some hundreds of years. His eyes lingered on the pinkness of her lips that, though slightly tilted downward in a frown, were still beautiful to him. The curve of her neck was accentuated by clunky modern jewelry that made him smile even though he much preferred the old style of jewelry to the kinds women liked to where in the current day and age. 

"Did you hear me?" she snapped at him, and in all of thirty seconds of their reunion, she was snapping at him like they were young and in love and stuck between the burning trees of the forest and the falling walls of Camelot. 

"Yeah," he managed out. Such an informal answer, though people weren't formal anymore. She certain wasn't, since people tended to knock at other's doors these days. Merlin tried not to think of Arthur and what he used to say about Merlin's bad habit of forgetting to knock, but it'd been so long that Merlin couldn't even be sure his memory would serve him accurately. 

"Then get dressed," Morgana said in a huff, then let her eyes wander to the living space to the left of Merlin. "And my god, Merlin, what are you living in?"

"Better than a hovel," he commented offhandedly as he squeezed between her and the hallway wall to make it back towards his bedroom door. With her back to him, he stole a glance of her backside, and actually appreciated the fit of modern pants on women. The last time he saw Morgana, she was wearing some kind of dress that was causing a bit of a stir. Something about it being French and that Boleyn queen had brought it to England just before she enchanted the king, but all of that was outside Merlin's scope of interest. He wanted nothing to do with royalty since the fall of Camelot, and that was why he liked America—they had no royalty. They had the Kennedy's, sure, but the Kennedy's weren't walking around with death wishes left and right like the Pendragons had. And if the Kennedy's were, they had their own personal body guard that got paid a hell of a lot more than Arthur had ever paid Merlin. Not that he'd kept score after all those centuries. 

When he came back out of his bedroom—dressed and cleaned by virtue of a few spells—his apartment was so clean and picked up, he wouldn't have recognized it if it weren't for all the same furniture. In the kitchen, it seemed Morgana had made herself at home and was preparing a cup of coffee for herself, her back to Merlin as she worked on the counter against the far wall. She definitely used a spell because his shitty old coffee maker took ages to heat water. "Glad you could put yourself together for all this," she told him, mimicking the tone he'd used earlier. "How do you like your coffee?" 

"Considering we've got six knights and a queen to find, strong should be good," Merlin answered. He didn't need to see Morgana's face to know a smirk had pulled on the corners of her mouth. He knew her so well, he could just feel it. 

"Well, I'll do the west coast, if you do the east, then we'll tackle Europe together," Morgana suggested as a mug floated out from behind her and across the kitchen to land on the island where Merlin was standing. 

"Going to work on your tan while you're out there?" Merlin asked sarcastically, and Morgana actually laughed at the comment, something he'd not expected. She turned and leaned against the counter, the fingers of one hand wrapped around her mug, one eyebrow raised. 

"I know where Gwen and Elyan are," she offered up. "Met them on accident."

"I know where Arthur and Lance are," Merlin matched with a shrug of his shoulders. He lifted his coffee cup to his lips, his eyes turned upward to watch her expression as he sipped the black liquid and ignored the bitterness as it flooded his mouth. "They're enjoying the perks of a privileged life in New York. At least Arthur is. Lance is his childhood friend and going along for the ride it would seem."

"How far is New York from here?" 

"Couple hours," Merlin answered. "And Gwen and Elyan?"

"In Nevada," Morgana told him, then took a sip of her own coffee. 

"So that leaves Leon, Percival, and Gwaine," Merlin surmised, and Morgana shot a look at him. She'd obviously figured that out on her own, but he needed to work through it all in his mind. It'd been a few good centuries since the last time they had go through all that, and he apparently wasn't at sharp at it all as she was. 

"Yes, well, I'll make a call, get Gwen and Elyan on the next dreadful plane out here, then I'll go find the other three knights. You can entertain the four we've got located," Morgana told him, and Merlin groaned. She was inherently better at tracking than he, so it made sense the division of labor she'd made, but that didn't mean it liked it all that much. 

"And if they don't remember?" Merlin questioned. Not remembering was as common as remembering in terms of their old friends, but this lifetime around, not remembering was not an option. 

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Morgana told him with a shrug. She took another sip of her coffee then set it on the counter behind her.

"And if Gwen falls for Lance before Arthur?" 

"You handled that before, you can handle it again."

"Yeah, some two thousand years ago. I don't think that past experience is going to be all that helpful," he replied sharply. She had started to walk towards the hallway, but he stepped out to block her way. "Morgana, we need to talk about-"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said sharply as she put one arm up and shoved him out of the way. "Get your boys, I'll get the siblings and the knights." She kept her eyes forward as she started down the hallway, pausing at the entry way. 

"Is that how it's going to be?" Merlin called out after her. He was leaned against the island in the kitchen, his eyes trained on the back of her head—her black curls hadn't changed at all in two thousand years, and he rather liked that. "We're going to save the world again, and you don't even want to talk about it? How are we supposed to do this with all of that-"

"It's not important," Morgana said strongly as she whipped around and narrowed her eyes at him. 

"Not important?" he repeated, then scoffed at the answer she gave him. He started towards her, and though she had ever opportunity to flee, she didn't. She let him advance on her, corner her in the entry way. She did, however, know that Merlin wasn't the type to force himself on her, so though he had every opportunity to put his arm up against the wall or against the door and really trap her there between the corner and his body, he didn't. "How is it not important, Morgana? It's important to me."

"I go by Morgan, now," she told him, her voice soft and even like they were having some regular conversation. He rolled his eyes at the ruse but got her point loud and clear. "It's less…old." 

"I think the term now is vintage."

"People now are stupid and selfish," Morgana—no, Morgan—replied harshly, and a smile pulled on Merlin's lips—one he could fight off very effectively. "We probably half about three to six months before she gets all her magic back. We'll need to be ready by then."

"I know how it all works," Merlin answered with a shrug. "We did do this once before, without the knights, without Arthur and Gwen." 

"That's not going to work this time."

"I know, I can feel it." 

"She probably won't fall for it again," Morgana said softly, her eyes shifting to focus on the wall behind Merlin. The memory replayed in Merlin's mind for the first time in hundreds of years. It had been a stroke of luck and good timing that he and Morgana alone had been able to banish Morgause from their world on their own, using their own combined magic. Morgana had risked a lot to do that for Merlin, who was too loyal and too deliriously happy for Arthur and Gwen—farmers of all occupations—to force them to fight a battle they had no say in. Morgause almost learned the truth about her sister's shifted loyalties—almost, but it was still too close. 

"I know," Merlin repeated when Morgana's eyes cleared and focused on his again. "I'll get Arthur and Lance today." 

"It's not going to be easy," Morgana told him, and that time it was his turn to smile that half smile that meant he'd obviously already figured that much out on his own. She let out a dry laugh as she let her head fall, prompting Merlin to take a half step towards her, his hand raising to tip her chin back up. He'd leant down with the intent of pressing their lips together—their first kiss since the reign of King Henry VIII—but Morgana turned her head and forced his lips to brush against the soft skin of her cheek. He backed away from, having received her rejection, and leaned to the side to pull open the door for her. 

"I'll call you in a few days when I find one of the knights."

"Have my number?" he asked, though clearly, she did. She always had been two steps ahead, and it donned on him that she'd probably known where he lived all along. Without a word, she slipped out of the apartment and turned the corner sharply, though Merlin stepped out into the hallway with her, his eyes watching the back of her head as she walked towards the stairwell. "Hey," he called out, just as her hand landed on the long silver bar of the stairwell door. She paused there as she debated whether or not to respond, but eventually she turned just her head to look back at Merlin. He was leaned against the doorway, one hand out to keep open his apartment door. 

"What?" 

"It's alright, you know," he told her with a slight tip of his head and a reassuring smile. "All of it. Everything. This. Then. The future. It'll all be ok." 

"Thought you don't make promises you can't keep."

"I haven't broken one yet," he answered, and she turned her head away from him so sharply, he'd have been concerned she gave herself whiplash if it wasn't for the fact that it took wrecking balls to destroy Pendragons—considering the ridiculous resilience that bordered on insanity they all had. He knew he shouldn't have said what he had, but in his long life, he'd learned to let things go, otherwise they'd all creep up on him in the middle of the night when he could sleep and weigh on him so devastatingly that he couldn't even breath under it all.

Going back into the kitchen, he picked up his phone and started to dial the number registered to Arthur's phone, and lodged the little device between his head and shoulder as he lifted his coffee mug to his lips. He could smell Morgana in the kitchen, and it made him smile for the whole thirty seconds before Lance's voice sounded on the other end of the line. That made the whole ordeal suddenly very real, because who was Merlin kidding? Morgana would've never come to see him on her own free will just because she missed him the way he'd always missed her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, after all the response I got, I've decided to continue this story. Hope you like it :)

Before getting Lance and Arthur, Merlin left his apartment, knowing it would be far too small to hold all the knights plus Gwen, himself, and Morgana. Having Morgana around all the others was another problem in and of itself, but he ignored that as he drove out of the city. The streetlights were still bright overhead, though the little road was still barely visible without the brightness of the city that was slowly diminishing in the rear view mirror. Eventually, even the streetlights were gone, but Merlin continued on down the little road until he turned off of it to go up a long gravel driveway. It'd been years since he'd last driven that path, but he remembered it perfectly. 

As he approached the iron gates, he slowed the car and focused his eyes on the iron bars. His eyes flashed gold and under the force of his magic, the gates swung back, the hinges long since rusted over screaming in protest. Ignoring the harsh sound, Merlin continued pushing on the gates until they were completely open, then drove through them. He pulled up to the front of the large imposing building. It was two stories but wide, and though one couldn't tell from the front view, deep as well. 

Penn Hall, he'd called it when he bought it some centuries ago. He'd fixed it up over the years, though he'd neglected it in the last two decades. His eyes flashed gold again when he noticed a broken window in the front of the house then returned to their usual blue shade when the window put itself back together. Climbing out of the car, he went to the front double doors—heavy oak wood he'd picked because it reminded him of Camelot—and opened them with another spell. Keys to the place would've been a good idea to bring, but alas he'd not thought of that. 

The atrium and the hallway extended from it were grey from a layer of dirt that had collected on every possible surface. A spell returned the room and hallway to its shiny glory, and Merlin continued walking through the entire first floor, spells falling off his lips left and right. He'd not used so much magic in quite a long time, but rather than being worn out from the effort, he felt invigorated, refreshed, like the magic within him that he left there unused wanted so badly to be unleashed even if just on simple cleaning and maintenance spells. He got through the second floor faster than the first and was actually quite proud of his efforts. It took only an hour to return Penn Hall to the state he'd always wanted to see it in. Most of the rooms were furnished, though most of the furniture was from other lifetimes. 

When he was finished, he went into the kitchen, which he had cleaned but not really looked at. Pausing in the doorframe, he noticed the complete lack of modern amenities—the inevitable consequence of not keeping up with the building over the last few decades. Making a note to at least buy a coffee maker and microwave with a clock, he walked along the counters, his fingers dragging along the cool tile. His eyes caught sight of a note in the middle of the island in the kitchen, so he went towards it, aware that the note had not been there when he first swept through the room. 

Call when you get the chance. 

He recognized Morgana's handwriting, but he didn't have his phone on him, so he just pocketed the note and moved to leave the house. He needed to get Lance and Arthur to Penn Hall, then Gwen and Elyan. They were supposedly on a plane in from the west coast, though Merlin wondered what it was Morgana had done to convince them to fly across the country so last minute. Knowing how manipulative she could be, he ignored the thought and tried to just focus on one thing at a time. Upon finding his phone in the car, he looked through his phone and wasn't at all surprised to see she'd programmed her number into his phone. After dialing it, he held the phone up to his ear and let his eyes shut. 

"How's Penn Hall?" she asked, forgoing the usual greetings one made when answering a phone.

"Livable," Merlin answered. He'd not expected any small talk from the woman who was all business. 

"Arthur and Lancelot?" 

"Haven't spoken to them recently. They're supposed to be on their way," Merlin answered, and could feel the irritation he was causing her. 

"I'm going to have some difficulties with the knights," Morgana admitted, bypassing Merlin's lack of progress. "I've found them all. They're friends, though I suppose that's not all that surprising. I can't tell if any of them remember or not, and if they do, then they won't trust me. None of them are going to trust me, Merlin."

"How'd you get Gwen and Elyan on a plane, then?" 

"They don't remember. At least Gwen didn't when I last spoke with her," Morgana answered. She was in England in a car she'd rented—rented, not stolen, though she doubted Merlin would believe her. She didn't have the best track record in following all the modern day laws. They really did just get in the way when she was trying to get things done. She was parked across the street from a two story house, one that Percival and Leon were renting together, and inside the two plus Gwaine were apparently having the time of their life if the loud music and vast amounts of alcohol she'd watched them carry in was anything to go buy. Not to mention the girls wearing next to nothing who kept coming and coming and coming for the last two hours. 

"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Merlin asked on the other side of the line. "You're the one there, not me. Where are you, anyway?" 

"Wales," she answered simply. "They're having a party, Merlin. A party. Morgause could be getting all her magic back at any time now, and they're partying with girls who apparently don't realize that stores make clothes that cover your entire-"

"Alright, I get the picture," Merlin laughed before Morgana could continue. "Maybe just wait it out until the morning, then talk to them when everyone else is gone." 

"I doubt they're spending the night alone," Morgana replied. 

"At least not Gwaine," Merlin commented before Morgana could say nearly the same thing. "Just do what you can. I'm sure you'll think of something. And—it's actually sad that I have to say this to you, but I know that I do—people don't like it when you break into their homes. I personally don't mind it, but normal people tend to not like that very much. And wherever you stole your car from-"

"I rented it," Morgana said defensively, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted though Merlin was on the other side of the world and couldn't see her response.

"Uh huh," Merlin replied, obviously not buying her story. "Just uh… put it back from where you rented it, then. We don't want any extra attention on us, right now. And you're probably already wanted by some law enforcement agency, aren't you? Don't get stopped by Interpol when you're-" 

Morgana just hung up, hating the way she could just feel Merlin laughing. She kept her eyes on the house then drew in a long breath. She checked the mirrors and peered out all the windows before she focused on the pooling of magic deep within her, willing the words of the Old Religion to come to her. The spell worked perfectly, so when she looked at herself in the mirror, she found her pale blue eyes had been tinted green, her black hair lightened to a dark brown, her pale skin tanned to an olive skin tone. Her face was mostly the same, but it'd been years since she tried any real concealment spells, so she didn't want to risk one back firing under the current circumstances. 

Getting out of the car, she drew in another breath and started to walk across the street. Slipping into the house was easy considering the sheer amount of people already there and mingling. She spotted Leon first. He was in the far corner of the first room chatting up some pretty girl, his eyes on her so intently that Morgana wasn't even concerned about being spotted by him. She slipped into the next room, where Percival was playing some game with some other man on the television. He had a wide grin plastered across his face, and Morgana just assumed that he was winning as she walked through that room and into the kitchen. Gwaine was being a rather animated bartender, every glass filled enthusiastically and with a bit of flare, every girl served with a lazy, albeit charming, smile. Morgana groaned to herself as she started working through all the possible scenarios:

One, none of them remembered. Positives: they don't hate her, yet. Negatives: they have no reason to follow a stranger half way across the world to help a man they've never met.

Two, one or two or three of them remembers. Positives: they know who she is and they know who Arthur is. Negatives: they hate her and have no reason to believe anything she says. 

In no hypothetical situation she came up with did Leon hold her hostage with a butter knife, and yet somehow, that was what happened come morning. Apparently, only he had remembered before she showed up at their party the night prior, but upon seeing her, Percival and Gwaine caught up with themselves and realized who they were. Gwaine was nursing a massive hangover against the far counter of the kitchen while Leon and Percival stood near Morgana, though not quite near enough. She could get away if she so wanted, but that apparently hadn't occurred to any of the three men before her. 

"A butter knife?" she finally asked as she rolled her eyes. Her appearance-changing spell had worn out, so she was back to her usual self, sharp tongue included. "That's a bit of a trade down from a sword, wouldn't you say?" 

"How's this?" Gwaine questioned from the far side of the room. Morgana recognized clicking sound that came from his side of the room, so when she peered up, she wasn't surprised to find the man holding up a gun pointed directly at her. Hung over or not, the man's arm was steady, his eyes clear, and she was in the crosshairs, not that it showed at all in the way she carried herself, head high, lips pulled up in an obnoxious smirk the three wanted to wipe off her face. 

"Modern," she answered, and Gwaine let out a huff as he set the gun down on the counter, letting the weapon clatter carelessly onto the tile. 

"I can't believe this," he said as he looked between Leon and Percival. 

"Which part?" Morgana asked. She was trying to get things moving along, but they were distrustful of her. There was little she could do to convince them, but she hoped that continuing to speak with them would get her somewhere—anywhere.

"The whole thing!" Gwaine yelled as his eyes shifted to Morgana. "I haven't seen you in hundreds of years."

"Thousands," she corrected, though she wasn't sure what purpose that served. She was too accustomed to the type of conversations she and Merlin had, and those obviously didn't translate as well when she had them with people other than Merlin. She willed her mind not to linger on that idea for very long.

"And yet, here you are," Gwaine huffed out as he wrapped his fingers around the handle of the gun, but didn't pick it up. "Come back to kill us finally?" His eyes were narrowed at her, his body leaned forward against the counter. 

"What purpose would that serve?" she asked with narrowed critical eyes. 

"Sorry," Gwaine said sarcastically before either Leon or Percival could speak. He lifted up the gun and walked around the length of the kitchen to come between his friends and stand right in front of where Morgana was seated. "Did you have something else in mind for us, then?"

"Actually, yes," Morgana answered, but before she could elaborate, her phone rang. Percival looked over to her bag on the counter then started to dig through it. He pulled out the phone and answered it.

"Speaker," Leon told him, and the man nodded before he complied.

"Hi," Morgana said, knowing it was Merlin. Nobody else called her. 

"Hi?" Merlin repeated, obviously thrown by the way she partook in normal conversation. "What's wrong with you?"

"Leon's holding me a butter knifepoint, Gwaine at gunpoint, and Percival just went through my bag without permission. Women don't like that very much," she said, the last comment directed at Percival.

"They remember?" Merlin asked, and Morgana rolled her eyes.

"No, Merlin, they're just really kinky in bed and totally into each other." 

"Merlin?" Gwaine repeated.

"Gwaine?" Merlin replied, his voice carrying an edge of cautiousness. 

"Yes, they remember," Morgana said, pulling Gwaine's attention from the phone to her. She tried hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice and she was mildly successful to the point where Leon, Gwaine, and Percival probably hadn't detected the sarcasm, though Merlin undoubtedly had.

"Need my help then?" Merlin asked, and Morgana shut her eyes tightly as she gritted her teeth. "It's ok," Merlin added, his voice carrying through the room clearly. "Just admit it. I'll talk to them and get it all sorted out. All you have to do is ask, Morgana."

"Morgan."

"Well, I'm busy, so I'm going to go," Merlin said, but she knew he was poking at her, forcing her to admit she needed his help with the knights. "Can't wait to hear from you, Morgan."

"Alright, fine," Morgana said finally, and Merlin laughed. "Could you talk to the knights and explain to them that every minute they're staring at me like idiots, Morgause is getting stronger, and Arthur the obnoxious needs them, even though he spends far too much time pinning after girls and stealing them from his friends?"

"Ask again without the insults," Merlin said. Morgana turned her gaze to the phone, eyes narrowed and face hard. "Never mind, I can feel what you're doing, and I don't much care for that. You're going to castrate me, aren't you?"

"You have five minutes," Morgana told him, her tone one of utter seriousness.

"Ok," Merlin agreed in a laugh. "You all need to get on a plane out here as soon as possible. Morgause is bidding her time, but she's getting her magic back. They can hear me, yes?" 

"Yes!" Morgana yelled at him.

"Easy with the attitude," Merlin told her. "You're not winning any points with them screaming at me."

"Oh," Morgana replied, her voice suddenly soft and melodic. "But I do know much you love when I scream, Merlin."

"Now is neither the time nor place," Merlin chided, though he wasn't entirely successful in keeping his embarrassment out of his voice. The three men around Morgana exchanged looks with each other, and Morgana just smirked to herself. 

"Merlin," Leon said strongly, reminiscent of his former position as Head of the Guard those thousands of years ago. "What you do in your spare time should be of your own discretion, but in the case of Morgana-"

"Morgan," Morgana corrected, and she feel Merlin roll his eyes at her on the other side of the world.

"She's not evil. Let her go. Get on a plane. I’ve got to go," Merlin said.

"No! Merlin, I need-" Morgana was cut off by him hanging up the phone. She groaned as she turned her eyes up to Leon, then Gwaine, and Percival. "Well?" she questioned. "Are you going to butter your toast with that, or are we getting on a plane?" 

On the other side of the world, Merlin darted off after Elyan and Gwen. Morgana had conveniently forgotten to tell him when their plane landed or even where it was landing, but he'd managed to figure all that out on his own. Both turned around when they heard their name, and much to Merlin's relief, both smiled at him knowingly. Gwen threw her arms around his neck as soon as he was within arm's reach, and he returned the embrace. 

"You remember," he said simply as Gwen pulled away. She just nodded at him, while Elyan provided the same answer verbally. "Why'd you come, then? When you knew it was Morgana who asked you to?"

"Figured if she hadn't made any attempt to see us in all these years, there had to be a reason for it now," Gwen answered with a shrug. "And Elyan said that since his memory came back, he can run her through with a sword," she added with a doubtful eye roll. Merlin laughed as he took Gwen's bag and turned to lead the two from the airport. 

"Since you're here, and obviously know about Morgana, what does all this mean?" Elyan asked as he walked along side Merlin. 

"It's a long story," Merlin said as he looked briefly to his other side. Gwen was watching him carefully as well.

"Shorten it," Elyan said as the two men lifted all the bags into the trunk of Merlin's car and started to climb in. Merlin started the engine, but didn't shift gears as he drew in a breath and turned to his side. Gwen was in the passenger seat, Elyan behind her in the back seat. 

"Morgause is back," he told them. "We need the knights to be with Arthur to banish her again."

"Again?" Gwen repeated, her eyes narrowed in concern at Merlin.

"We?" Elyan questioned, his mind having picked out something different in Merlin's statement than his sister's mind had. "Who is 'we'?"

"Morgana and I. I'll explain it all later," he promised them as he turned forward and put the car into reverse.


	3. Chapter 3

"Merlin," Gwen said in a half gasp as he pulled the car around to the front of the house. 

"Hm?" he replied as he parked the car and peered over at Gwen. She was gapping out the window at Penn Hall while Merlin was eyeing the other car parked in front. 

"It looks like Camelot," she said as she looked back at him and smiled brightly. 

"That was the idea," Merlin admitted with a shrug, then climbed out of the car. Elyan opened Gwen's door for her, and Merlin used a spell to move all their bags from the trunk to the front porch. As Gwen and Elyan admired the architecture of the building, Merlin looked over the other car on the drive way, his eyes narrowing when he noticed the New York license plate. When one of the two doors opened up, Merlin turned to the house, finding Lance in the doorway, a wide smile on his face. Elyan and Gwen looked at him wearily, but their hesitation faded when Lance pulled them towards him in a tight embrace. 

"Glad you remember," Merlin commented as he stepped into the house behind Elyan and Gwen. 

"At least I do," Lance answered with a smile as he looked at Merlin. "Your message was a little cryptic." 

"What do you mean at least you do?" Gwen asked with narrowed eyes, and Lance turned his gaze to her. His smile faltered for a half second, and Gwen turned away from him at the moment. Lance cleared his throat and turned his eyes to Merlin. 

"Arthur doesn't." 

"Of course he doesn't," Merlin replied as he nodded. "Why would saving the world ever be easy with him? It's not like I'm overworked or anything," he commented sarcastically as he continued through the atrium and down the extended hallway. "Where is he?"

"Enjoying the house," Lance answered but before he could say anything further, Merlin heard footsteps coming from another hallway. Sure enough, Arthur rounded the corner, a grin across his face.

"Merlin, you never said you had family money," he declared, then turned his head to Gwen, apparently having lost all interest in Merlin. "Hi."

"For god's sake," Merlin muttered as he rolled his eyes and started to carry the bags around Arthur and further down the hallway. "Three seconds," he said as he turned his head towards Lance, who'd volunteered to take the rest of the bags from Elyan. "And there he goes after Gwen. It's like history just never gets tired of itself."

"It never used to bother you," Lance commented as he followed Merlin through the hallway and up the staircase. "I put mine and Arthur's bags in here," he added as they passed two rooms. Merlin just nodded and shrugged as he stopped at the first empty room and deposited Gwen's bags there. They continued on to the next room to put Elyan's bags down as well.

"Things are different now," Merlin replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Lance looked at him but said nothing as they continued back to the others. They were halfway down the stairs when Merlin's phone rang. Groaning, he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it, still following Lance through the hallways and into the kitchen, where Arthur, Gwen, and Elyan were chatting. Of course, Arthur and Gwen were chatting while Elyan just stood by and watched a man without the memories of his previous lives fall in love with his sister all over again. 

"What?" Merlin asked into the phone, aware of how antisocial he sounded due to the greeting, or lack thereof. 

"Our plane lands in five hours. Need you to pick us up," Morgana declared.

"I am not a chauffeur," he protested loudly as he started to open the cupboards. He shouldn't have been surprised to find everything empty. Nobody had lived in Penn Hall in ages. 

"Yeah, except for the part where when the plane lands you're going to be there with a car," Morgana replied, and Merlin was distracted in his task of making a shopping list enough to turn and lean against the counter. He was hardly even aware of everyone else in the room. 

"No. Just steal one. You do it all the time," Merlin replied with a groan. "Just don't crash it this time."

"That wasn't even a car I crashed, it was a house drawn carriage, and I haven't stolen anything in like…" Morgana trailed off, and Merlin raised an eyebrow in anticipation. "I don't know. A year."

"Oh, a whole year," Merlin said sarcastically. "Get a cab."

"That's expensive."

"I'll pay you back," Merlin said then hung up the phone and tossed it to the counter. He glared at the device for a moment before he turned back around and pulled open a drawer. It was empty, and his eyes flashed gold. When the gold faded, he reached into the drawer to pull out the pad and paper from within. He started to scribble a shopping list, pausing in his train of thought when Arthur said something to him. "What?" he asked as he looked up at Arthur, eyes narrowed slightly.

"Beer," Arthur repeated, and Merlin stared blankly at him. Behind Arthur, Elyan and Lance were doing their best to stifle their laughter and only being mildly successful at it. 

"For what?" Merlin asked.

"The party," Arthur answered, and Merlin's eyes shifted up to Lance.

"Yeah, you know," Lance put in. "That party you invited us to, and that's why we drove from New York." 

Merlin sighed and nodded. "Fine," he said, opting not to argue with Arthur, who just had no idea how insane he sounded. It wasn't Arthur's fault he couldn't remember, though that didn't stop Merlin from being annoyed at him. Morgause was getting stronger every day and the man wanted beer. It was like Arthur wanted to drive Merlin insane. 

"And dip," Arthur added. Merlin forced his head to stay down and scribbled it onto the shopping list. He swore that even Gwen laughed that time. 

"Anything else?" Merlin asked as he looked up at Arthur. "To make you comfortable, of course."

"Are you being sarcastic, Merlin?" Arthur replied, eyes narrowed.

"Not even a little bit," Merlin answered as he tore the page out of the notebook. Then, he reached forward to retrieve the phone from the counter. He pried open the back of the phone to take out the battery then tossed it into the sink, more than aware of how insane he looked. He jut ignored that as he turned on the water and flipped the switch for the garbage disposal. 

"What are you doing?" Arthur finally asked.

"So none of you can answer my phone," Merlin explained as he swept the phone and the back of it into a drawer and shut it. "Can't have you snooping through my personal affairs," he added before he walked out of the room, Elyan and Lance flanking him on either side. 

"That was dramatic," Elyan commented. "Care to explain anything now?"

"Not particularly," Merlin answered truthfully. He drew in a breath and looked over his shoulder at Arthur and Gwen, though they didn't notice him as they carried on their conversation. As the three men turned the corner, Merlin motioned with his arm down a hallway that branched off from the atrium, then into the first room on the right. It was a little gathering space filled with several couches and armchairs. 

"That was her, wasn't it?" Elyan asked as he plopped down to the nearest couch. Lance took a seat across from him, and Merlin stayed standing between the two. 

"Her?" Lance questioned.

"Hm," Elyan replied as he turned to meet the gaze of his old friend. "Morgana, apparently." Lance raised an eyebrow and cocked his head up at Merlin, who just laughed nervously as he nodded.

"Right, so," Merlin started, then stopped to clear his throat. "Yes, but… you know… she's…"

"Morgana?" Lance repeated as he narrowed his eyes. 

"Right," Merlin said, as though that were an answer. 

"Merlin," Elyan said strongly, and the wizard drew in a long breath. He turned his gaze to Elyan, whose eyes were narrowed at him. "Tell us what's going on."

"I'd much rather just… wait for Gwaine, Percival, and Leon," Merlin answered truthfully. "I really don't want to have this conversation any more times than strictly necessary. And since Arthur doesn't remember, I'm already looking at having it twice as it is." 

"They're on their way?" Lance asked, and Merlin turned to him. 

"Yeah, they'll be here tomorrow. With Morgana."

"They're with Morgana right now?"

"Hopefully," Merlin answered. "I should've gotten proof of life when she called before I destroyed my phone battery, but it's too late for that."

"She steals?" Lance asked, and Merlin actually laughed, then tried to straighten out his face.

"And breaks into places, and crashes vehicles she doesn't own," Merlin answered with a nod. "Actually, one time we accidently set a house on a fire. But she usually blames that on me, but it was really more of a joint effort." 

"So you've spent time with her?" Elyan asked. He leaned back in his seat and kept his gaze on Merlin. Thankfully, neither knight seemed to be critical or even judgmental in their gazes or questions, so Merlin just answered them as they came. If it made everything with Morgana easier down the road, then he saw no reason not to. 

"Yes," Merlin said with a nod. "We've… run into each other over the years." 

For a moment, the three were quiet, the knights looking at each other then up at the wizard in a rather carefully timed rhythm. Merlin narrowed his eyes as he glanced between them, not entirely sure what to make of the exchange. He'd not been around any knights—not when they really were knights, anyway—in hundreds of years. He found himself somewhat out of practice. 

"What?" he finally asked, when neither man before him seemed willing to speak.

"When Arthur gets his memory back, he's going to smell the lie on you," Elyan said simply. Merlin hadn't been keeping secrets for even longer than he'd been around knights, so Elyan's comment hit him straight on. 

"I don't want to talk about it," Merlin just said finally with a shrug of his shoulders as though the whole thing was casual and nonchalant. 

"Right, of course," Elyan said as he nodded. "I wouldn't want to talk about how I've got a crush on Camelot's worst enemy either." 

"We're not defending Camelot at the moment," Merlin replied, reverting to his old retorts because that apparently came naturally to him when around the knights. Though they weren't that different from the sarcasm he exchanged with Morgana, it felt different to him. "We're defending the whole world, probably. I'm not entirely sure what Morgause wants, because I've not spoken to her in some time." 

"But you've spoken with Morgana?" Lance questioned 

"Well," Merlin started then trailed off as he shrugged. "Do you mean a real conversation like this? You know, all questions, questions, questions? Or did she break into my apartment and order me around then fly across the world, then call me for no reason other than she likes to bitch at me like I'm her personal sounding board all in three days when I've not seen her in five hundred years? It's really more like the latter, I think. What with the bitching and the breaking and entering. That's all very Morgana stuff, these days."

"You're rambling," Elyan accused.

"Yes," Merlin agreed with a nod. "I actually don't talk to people very often," he admitted as he turned to meet Elyan's gaze. "Until now, bitching with Morgana was the most conversation I've had in… well… five hundred years. Being magical and immortal is uh… lonely." 

Elyan and Lance exchanged another glance, but neither said anything that time. In the background, Merlin heard Arthur calling for him, and though he did not want to establish a familiar King-Servant relationship, he ran off to see what Arthur needed just to get away from the stares Elyan and Lance were exchanging. 

When Merlin found Arthur, he was in the dining room connected to the kitchen via a serving door, Gwen nowhere in sight. Arthur was on the far end of the room, his eyes casted upward on a painting Merlin had forgotten was there. It was some artist's rendition of King Arthur and his Knights, though the whole thing was rather romanticized and hardly any of it was true. 

"Arthur?" Merlin asked curiously, and he whipped around at the sound of his name. The confusion in Arthur's eyes was clear, though Merlin wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. Before saying anything, Arthur shut his eyes and rubbed them fairly hard, then took in a breath as he stepped towards the table. His hands braced the edge of the table before he looked up at Merlin again. 

"I can feel… something," Arthur said finally. Merlin walked down the length of the table to stand to the side of Arthur, his eyes looking over the man carefully. 

"Do you remember?"

Arthur took his time in answering, but Merlin knew that sometimes their memories came back in one clear shot. Other times it came back in bits and pieces. Apparently, Arthur was having one of those bits and pieces times. "What is it that's going on right now?" Arthur finally asked, then swallowed as he looked up at Merlin. It was impossible for Merlin to not feel the intensity in Arthur's gaze. It was obvious Arthur trusted nobody's word better than Merlin's. 

"Morgause is getting her magic back," Merlin explained, using the most simplistic terms as possible. "Elyan and Lancelot are here. So is Gwen. Percival, Leon-" Merlin stopped speaking when Arthur held up his hand. Groaning, Arthur lowered himself into the nearest seat, then buried his face in his hands. "Do you want something?" Merlin asked, and then realized he had nothing to offer Arthur anyway. Penn Hall was stripped bare in terms of food. 

"No," Arthur answered with a shake of his head, then lifted his gaze up to Merlin, who'd slipped into the chair across from Arthur. "How is she coming back?"

"It's complicated, Arthur," Merlin told him. "Tomorrow, I'll explain it all when Percival, Leon, and Gwaine get here, alright?"

Arthur made some unintelligible noises, but Merlin knew better than to ask the man to repeat himself. Instead, they just sat there, Arthur's face still in his hands, his fingers rubbing at his temples. Merlin watching him carefully, ready to spring up and do anything Arthur asked of him, so much for avoiding a King-Servant relationship. 

"Where did Gwen go?" Merlin asked finally, and Arthur's eyes snapped up to him. 

"Gwen," he repeated, then slowly started to smile. "Guinevere," he said softly, the name spoken in such a reverent kind of way. 

"Right," Merlin answered with a nod. "Though, I think her name is just Gwen, now." 

"Guinevere," Arthur repeated then laughed, all marks of worry and confusion gone from his face magically. He drew in a deep breath, keeping his eyes on Merlin's, then pushed himself up to his feet and started back around the table. 

"Are you ok, Arthur?" Merlin asked, not entirely convinced that Arthur was handling the return of his memories very well. 

"Perfect," Arthur answered simply as he pushed on the swinging door that connected the dining room and the kitchen. Merlin was on his heels through the kitchen and into the atrium. "Gwen!" Arthur called out, his head turned down towards the hallway. "Guinevere!" he called out again when the first call got him no response. The use of her formal name, however, drew Elyan and Lance out of the gathering room to the right, followed by the rushed footsteps on the second floor of the house. Gwen turned the corner breathlessly, eyes wide and bright and hopefully. Arthur just grinned at her, his eyes taking her in like he'd not seen her in ages. The fact that he'd just gotten his memory back probably made him feel that way. 

"You remember," she said softly, and said something else that Arthur nodded along to, but he'd gathered her into his arms so quickly that her words were muffled by his shoulder. Arthur was nodding against her neck, and her arms were wrapped so tightly around his neck that Merlin wondered if she could even feel her arms at all. He watched them so intently that Elyan had to pull on his arm to get his attention to break. Taking the hint, Merlin followed Elyan and Lance out of the atrium and down the hallway, but he wasn't able to stop himself from glancing back at Arthur and Gwen once more. Their foreheads were together, lips moving in whispered words meant only for their other half. Merlin wished he hadn't looked back, but more than that, he wished it hadn't hurt to look back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is coming along slowly but surely. Thanks to my betas TARDIStraveler and Meg, and to La_Temperanza for all the supporting comments. Sometimes a few encouraging sentences can bring the muses back. 
> 
> Also, if anyone's interested, I do post previews of chapters before their posted on my blog on tumblr at: dawnbently. tumblr. com (Without the spaces)

"How do we know you're not trying to kill us?" Gwaine asked, voice defensive, eyes narrowed. He was seated in the passenger seat of the car Morgana had rented from the airport after Merlin conveniently did not appear to pick them up after their flight ended. Not that he'd believe her that she'd rented it. Of course, he was also convinced she was on Interpol's watch list—which she was, but under an alias and for entirely legitimate reasons. 

"Because if I was," Morgana started, then paused to jerk the steering wheel violently. The car pulled over into the next lane so fast that the three men in the car were thrown to the side, but the honks from outside the car were louder than their protest. The engine roared louder when Morgana pressed into the gas even more and sped up to pass three cars in the right lane before she jerked back into the lane, narrowly missing an accident with another car in front of her. "I'd have already killed you," she finished finally.

"I think you're trying to make it look accidental," Leon put in from the back seat. Morgana grinned at him through the rearview mirror, keeping her eyes off the road for longer than any of the three cared for. 

"Am I?" she asked as she leisurely shifted her eyes back to the road and continued driving in a manner they'd all deemed reckless. 

"Yeah, in a car accident," Leon replied, and Morgana laughed. She shook her head as she shifted her hand to the center top of the steering wheel, using her free hand to fiddle with the radio. When Gwaine tried to intervene, she knocked his hand out of the way and continued to push buttons and twist dials on the radio face at her pleasure. When she found a station to her liking, she reached for her phone in the cup holder and used the same free hand to locate Merlin's phone number. 

"Watch the road!" Percival yelled at the same time Gwaine said the same thing in other words. 

"You used to be Knights, you know," she chided them as she started the call and pushed the phone up to her ear. Groaning when it went straight to voice mail, she chucked the useless device into the backseat, ignoring Percival when he complained that she struck him in the knee. "You'd best start acting like it or you won't need me to get yourselves killed."

"If you told us what's going on-"

"I apparently didn't need to," Morgana snapped before Leon could finish. "Considering how the three of you did just get on a plane to fly across the world with someone you don't even trust to drive," she explained, her voice far too victorious and condescending all at once for any of the three men's tastes. They'd finally realized the losing battle they were fighting and opted to remain silent, prompting Morgana to turn up the music to the volume she preferred it to be at. It was an optimal noise level that completely canceled out the sounds of the men's bickering as well as the honks of the other drivers who, in her opinion, needed to learn how to drive like they meant it. 

The drive to Penn Hall took an hour despite the fact it should've taken at least an hour and a half. Upon pulling up to the house, Morgana turned down the volume of the music and took a deep breath as she peered out the front window at the tall imposing building. She'd not been to Penn Hall in quite some time, and it struck her how successful Merlin had been in channeling Camelot when he reconstructed the building's outer architecture. 

When a hand touched her arm, she instinctively twisted it around to grab the offending wrist in a tight grip and twist it upward. "Morgana! Morgana!" Merlin yelled as he immediately went down to his knees under the unnatural strain she'd put on his wrist out of sheer habit. She released him immediately, her eyes flickering up to where the three Knights she'd traveled with, plus Arthur and Elyan, were standing near the front door of the house. Arthur had taken steps forward but stopped when Merlin put up a hand that he was ok. 

"Sorry," Morgana said softly enough that only he could hear her. 

"We need to go shopping," Merlin said simply as he got back to his feet and rubbed his wrist to will away the pain. "And they're not ready to talk to you just yet," he added, voice lower than usual as he leaned down to put his head in the window. Morgana raised an eyebrow as she looked to him, well aware that they were being closely watched. 

"You didn't talk to them?" 

"Not really," he admitted. "I wanted to do it all at once," he explained, then turned his head to see Lance and Gwen had appeared in the doorway as well. Not one of the seven standing there had a favorable expression on their face. "But I don't know what to say," he added eyes still on the seven.

"Get in," she told him, and he nodded as he stood up straight and moved to walk around to the other side of the car. Gwaine and Leon had already gotten all the bags out of the trunk and had them set on the ground near the front steps of the house.

"We'll be back in an hour. We're going to get some food and supplies," Merlin told them, stopping when Arthur took another two steps forward to block Merlin's way.

"Merlin, you promised that you would explain."

"And I will," Merlin replied as he held Arthur's gaze. "I just need an hour, alright?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow at Arthur. The blonde drew in a deep breath as he turned and met Morgana's gaze. Morgana's eyes were cold and defensive, but Merlin knew she would not be the one to open up to the seven. It would have to be the seven to accept her, and Merlin recognized that would be the more difficult path but the necessary one. Arthur sighed heavily as he took a step back and let Merlin pass. 

"And if she kills you?" Arthur asked as Merlin opened the passenger door. 

"Oh, I don't think she will," Elyan said from the steps, lips pulled up in a grin, voice that of someone highly amused with themselves. Morgana glared as she looked to Elyan then turned her head to Merlin, expecting an answer. Merlin just shut his eyes and shook his head, and Morgana rolled her eyes. Without warning, she shifted the car into reverse, pressed on the gas, and shocked Merlin into the present. 

"Morgana, no!" he yelled as she turned the wheel sharply and shifted into drive before the car had even stopped. "We are not professional drivers, and you're going to get us killed," he protested, but Morgana's laughter was the last thing the knights and Gwen heard as the car sped off down the gravel driveway. When they reached the dirt road, Morgana slowed down, though only by a fraction. Merlin didn't bother telling her where to go, even when she turned right, which led further into the nothingness of the countryside, rather than left to go into the city. The further away they drove from Penn Hall, the slower Morgana started to drive until she founded a large oak tree growing off the side of the road and pulled over to park beneath its shade. As she shifted the car into park, she turned towards Merlin. 

"We have to tell them the truth," Merlin started as he met her gaze.

"We'll tell them only what's strictly necessary," she replied, voice still hard and determined even if Merlin was the only one to hear it. 

"Whose decision is it what's necessary and what isn't?" he questioned, and Morgana huffed as she turned forward and started out of the front window. 

"Ours, obviously, Merlin, considering we know what's going on, and what isn't." 

"And they have no right to the truth, then?"

"They don't need to know the entire truth," she replied sharply and turned to him to raise an eyebrow in an effort to emphasis her point. "Some things are entirely inconsequential, and those things should be kept from them at all costs."

"At all costs? And what things, Morgana? Things like Morgause is reaching too far or things like you like to fall into bed with me when you get too drunk?"

Morgana said nothing as her fingers tightened around the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. Merlin let the silence linger as he turned away from her as well. They'd never had a real conversation about their relationship, and after so many years, he was letting those things bubble to the surface even if she was right. They were inconsequential, and in terms of what they needed to do, unimportant for the knights to know. 

"I wasn't always drunk, Merlin," Morgana replied finally when her grip on the steering wheel loosened. Her gaze was still focused out on the scene in front of her, as was Merlin's. "Don't sell yourself too short."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Don't get used to it."

"Oh, who would, with you around?" he replied. Morgana actually smiled and let out a breath of a laugh as she shook her head. When she trusted herself enough, she turned to look at Merlin, and when he noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye, did the same. "I am assuming that this little mission of ours isn't going to change anything."

"No, not particularly," she admitted. Merlin nodded slowly as he turned away from her again. She shut her eyes just to avoid seeing the hurt in his eyes, knowing that she was the one to put it there. Never had she ever admitted it aloud, but it always hurt whenever Merlin hurt, but he'd never forced her to say it, to make it real. "It'll just get complicated if we-"

"Complicated?" Merlin repeated as he forced himself to keep his eyes forward. He knew how vulnerable Morgana could feel if under another's gaze. "You think this isn't already complicated? And it doesn't have to be, if you didn't let it. It's not that complicated, really. Arthur and Gwen-"

"Are nothing like us- this," she replied sharply, taking in a deep breath as she shook her head. "Arthur and Gwen have a different kind of…"

"Relationship," Merlin said, finally unable to avoid looking at her. As soon as he turned towards her, she turned away. "Humans call these interpersonal connections of a romantic nature relationships." 

Morgana gritted her teeth as she forced her eyes to stay forward. She could feel the anger and disappointment and overall desire radiating from Merlin, and it was hard to block all that out when she battling all of that on her own as it already was. "How could you call whatever the hell this is a relationship?" she questioned finally. She gave up and turned to him, only to find his eyes narrowed at her rather defensively. 

"Humans don't have a word for two thousand year old interpersonal connections-"

"Shut up," she snapped at him as she started the car and shifted it into drive rather carelessly. 

"There's a ledge in front and you're going to-" Merlin stopped and groaned when Morgana went forward instead of backing out to leave the space the way she'd gotten there. The sound of the back bumper striking the ledge was loud and echoing within the car, but Morgan drove on like nothing had happened. "I'm paying for that, aren't I?"

"I used your credit card to rent it," Morgana admitted.

"How did you even get my credit card?" he questioned.

"Stole it from your apartment when you were changing." 

Merlin would've been annoyed that she'd done such a thing, but he mostly blamed himself for leaving himself open to such a crime. Really, he should've been less in awe of seeing her again, and more sensible in picking up everything she could want to steal and taking it with him everywhere he went when she was in the apartment. 

"Go into the city. We need to stock up on everything to feed nine people," he said eventually. Morgana laughed, able to discern his stance on her kleptomaniac tendencies.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks to my beta Meg!

It was dark out when they returned to Penn Hall. Some of the lights were on in the windows, though not all of the building's front windows were lit up. Morgana parked the car and shut off the engine before she popped the trunk. It took all of three minutes before Arthur and Leon appeared at the front steps, but neither Merlin nor Morgana paid them much attention as they walked to the end of the car to start hauling bags and boxes into the house.

"We brought takeout for dinner," Merlin explained as he looked up at Arthur when the blond approached the car. Merlin tipped his head in the direction of the back seat, and Leon stepped forward to open the door and grab the two paper bags on the floor of the car.

"Where'd you go?" Arthur questioned, eyes narrowed at Merlin, but his attention broke when Morgana shoved a large box into his arms. Arthur juggled the box around when Morgana started handing him other bags to hold as well.

"The store," she answered finally before she waved him towards the house. Arthur's eyes shifted to Merlin, but he was already starting to carry things into the house, forcing Arthur to do the same. It took a few minutes to unload the entire car, seeing that Merlin and Morgana had bought quite a bit. By the time they'd finished unloading, the rest of the house's new occupants had gathered around the far end of the kitchen, creating an unintentional yet visible barrier between themselves and Morgana. Merlin stood between them, as he expected he would, but his eyes shot up when he saw Gwen step forward, a smile across her face, as she held out her arms in an offer to take the coffee maker from Morgana. Morgana handed it over, eyes narrowing slightly, but remained silent as she let Gwen start unpacking the coffee maker and situate it on one of the counters.

"We want an explanation," Arthur said finally. Merlin stopped pulling groceries out of the bag in front of him to look up.

"I'm aware," Merlin told him as he held Arthur's gaze. "Eat dinner first, and we'll talk," he replied before he turned his gaze to a bag on the floor. His eyes flashed gold as a stack of plates flew out from the bag. Nearly half of them went to the island in the center of the kitchen and spread out so each plate sat alone. The rest of the plates went into the sink to be washed. Merlin turned his attention to the silverware next, while Morgana gave up on unpacking groceries to use her magic to unpack the take out instead. The pair moved around each other rather flawlessly, and their magic was used in a rhythm that left the on lookers somewhat struck by the scene.

When Merlin was distributing the silverware, Morgana was setting out cups. As Merlin started opening the many boxes of food, Morgana moved things around the counters to make space for the different kind of beverages she and Merlin had picked up at the store. Not once did their magic collide or interfere with the other's, even when they hardly seemed to be aware of what the other's magic was doing.

Eventually, Merlin got everyone seated around the long dining table, all with a plate in front of them. Again, Arthur and the others sat around one end, while Morgana sat on the other alone except for Merlin on her right. They did not have dinner plates since they'd already eaten when they were out, but Morgana had helped herself to a glass of wine. While most of the others at the table were more concerned with the explanation owed to them, Gwaine's hunger had won him over. One by one, the others started actually eating rather than just picking at the food as well.

"Any time you feel like starting, Merlin," Arthur said between bites of food. Merlin sighed as he turned to look down the length of the table. He met Arthur's gaze and drew in another breath.

"Morgause is… She's…" Merlin groaned as he put his elbows on the edge of the table and lowered his head so he could rub his temples. Morgana swirled the wine in her wine glass before she lifted her eyes to meet Arthur's gaze. She took a long, rather leisurely moment, to stare at him, eyes narrowing and widening to normal as she worked through her thought process.

"Why don't you start with a history lesson, Merlin?" Morgana suggested, eyes still locked on Arthur.

"We remember what happened, Morgana. We were there," Arthur replied sharply, his eyes narrowing at her in anger. She raised an eyebrow in the most amused fashion as she dropped her eyes to watch the red liquid swirl around the curves of her wine glass.

"Well, my mistake then, Arthur," she replied, voice light and deceptively sweet. "Tell then, how did you die?" She knew she'd not get a response right away, so she took her time in looking up again. Arthur's brow furrowed as he tried to sift through his newly recovered memories, and Morgana's eyes shifted to peer at the others around the table. They all had similar looks of confusion and disorientation. "You never remember how you die in previous lives. It's kind of a rule of thumb. Generally, you don't remember the week or two leading up to it." She paused in speakimg to glance down at her wine and take a sip. "Unfortunately for you, that's when all the interesting things in Camelot happened."

"Morgana," Merlin said, voice a warning in and of itself. She peered up at Merlin and motioned for him to take over talking to the knights, as she was quite content to sit there and sip away at her wine. Merlin turned back towards the others, finding all their eyes trained on him, most of them curious and wanting answers.

"What happened to Camelot, Merlin?" Arthur asked finally.

"Morgana and Mordred led a surprise attack on Camelot that we were neither aware of nor prepared for, and-"

"And you want us to trust her?" Arthur snapped before Merlin could finish. Merlin only stared back at Arthur. Morgana rolled her eyes from where she sat and shook her head as she shoved back on the table to push her seat back.

"Morgana, don't-"

"This is a waste of time, Merlin," she told him as she stood up. She finished her wine and set the empty glass on the table, eyes never leaving Merlin's. "I told you they would never trust me again, and-"

"They will," Merlin replied as he stood as well when she started to walk towards the swinging door that connected the dining hall to the kitchen. Morgana's face hardened as she stared up at him.

"No, we can do this without me here. You know what to do, and I'll be there when-"

"No," Merlin said strongly before she could complete her sentence. She let out a huff of a breath as she shook her head and shut her eyes momentarily. "You're staying."

"I'm leaving-"

"I said no," Merlin said as he put an arm out to stop her from walking around her. "I'm stronger than you, so-"

"Barely."

"Barely counts, last time I checked," Merlin replied, and Morgana huffed again as she tilted her head back to look at him. Her eyes were narrowed as she held his gaze. Both were hyperaware that their exchange was being closely watched, so while neither really cared that much about what they saw, both were careful in not revealing too much at the same time so as to maintain the delicate balance they'd already agreed to keep.

"What are you going to say to them to convince them?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. She'd reached out to put her hand on his wrist to push his arm down to his side, but her fingers lingered there for a few seconds too long. She tightened her hands into fists at her side and fought the urge to turn and see in anybody at the table had noticed the touch.

"Oh, I don't know, the truth, maybe," he replied. Morgana shut her eyes as she turned away from him. That time, when Morgana tried to get past Merlin, he let her, but followed her into the kitchen. The door kept swinging on his hinges after they'd passed through them.

"We already agreed that-"

"I know what we agreed," Merlin said. Both were speaking in hushed whispers in the kitchen, though they didn't doubt that at least a few of their words carried over into the otherwise silent dining hall. "But if you just opened up to them, they'd at least have a reason to want to trust you."

"I swear, Merlin, sometimes it's like you don't even hear yourself," Morgana replied, not even bothering to keep her voice lowered that time. "We are not in Camelot anymore. This isn't a perfect world, and they're sure as hell not perfect."

"They don't need to be," he told her, and Morgana scoffed as she shook her head and tried to turn away. Merlin grabbed her arm to stop her. She didn't fight him back, but turned to him instead. "Trust me, Morgana, please. Just this one time. They're not going to hurt you if you open up to-" Merlin stopped when Morgana ripped her arm out of his grasp to slap him with it.

"How dare you-"

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely as he looked at her. "I shouldn't have-"

"No, you shouldn't have, Merlin."

"Trust me this one time, Morgana. Please."

Morgana stared at him for as long as she could bare it before she turned away. She braced her hands on the edge of the counter and let her head hang slightly. As out of bounds as it might've been, Merlin was right. Morgana had always been terrified for letting anybody in for fear they could hurt her on the way out. She wanted to believe Merlin was right, that the others in the next room would not cause her any pain, but experience had long since proven that was not necessarily the case.

Her entire body went frigid when Merlin touched the small of her back. He quickly withdrew the hand when he felt her muscle tighten, and she almost regretted that she'd turned him into that kind of man. Before she could dwell on all the reasons she made Merlin withdraw from her, she sucked in a breath and turned back to him, eyes hardened as much as she could manage.

"I will tell them the bare minimum," Morgana said, her voice so low that Merlin needed to lean into her to hear the words. He knew she didn't want to others to hear her at all. "The fall of Camelot and the visions, but that's all, Merlin."

"Ok," he said as he nodded and stepped back from her. "That's enough."

"Where's the whiskey?" she asked, and Merlin laughed as he motioned to one of the top counters. While she fixed herself a glass of something stronger, Merlin went back into the dining hall, not at all surprised to find all eyes transfixed on him.

"I'll tell you how Camelot fell, but you have to listen to it all, Arthur. You can't pick and choose what you want to hear and what you want to disregard."

Arthur's eyes narrowed, and he'd started to stand up, but Gwen put her hand on his arm. Before he could protest what Merlin was insinuating, Morgana walked into the room, a crystal glass that had been generously filled with whiskey clutched in one hand. She moved to stand on the far end of the dining hall near the window. After leaning back on the wall, she looked over at the table, eyes meeting Arthur's and holding the gaze easily.

"Go on, Merlin," Gwen said when she was convinced that Arthur would at least let Merlin tell the story.

"Morgana and Mordred led a massive attack on Camelot. We had no chance to get reinforcements, and they cut me off from the Druids who'd pledged to help Camelot in its time of need. All we had were the knights inside the walls at the time of the attack, and what little defenses stood in the pathway of their march."

"We should've retreated into the south, and used the south gate to lead people out of the city," Arthur protested. Merlin smiled. After two thousand years, Arthur still knew Camelot like the back of his hand.

"We tried, Arthur," Merlin said finally. "For one, most refused to evacuate the city. Two, Gwen wouldn't leave behind her kingdom any more than you would've. You assigned Gwaine and Elyan to protect her while you rode out with Leon and Percival, but Gwaine and Elyan decided that just one would be enough to protect Gwen, so Gwaine followed you out a few minutes later."

"And where were you?" Gwen asked. Merlin's eyes shifted to Gwen.

"I was casting protection spells on the battlements. Then I followed Gwaine out to the battle field. By then, Morgana's army was right on top of us. Leon was dead already, Percival," Merlin paused as he turned his eyes to the man. "You were barely breathing. You had maybe another minute left. It was a massacre that we didn't stand a chance against, Arthur. This wasn't something that you could've prevented, could've defended. It was full blown war, and in a matter of minutes, over half of your forces were desiccated."

"What happened?" Arthur asked.

"Gwaine died protecting you from the back. He was faster than I was, even with all that armor and weaponry. I tried to save him, but you were battling Mordred in sword combat. He dealt you a fatal blow, and you dealt him one as well. It was a distraction for me, because that was the moment Morgana tore the Veil between this world and the next. She used your death as payment in exchange for Morgause's life, then used Mordred's magic to sustain her."

Merlin paused when he saw most eyes had shifted over to Morgana. Behind him, he heard her take a long sip from her glass, then let out a long breath. "Really, I should get some recognition in my battle strategy talents. Nobody took Camelot or destroyed it as many times as I did."

"Now is not the time," Merlin said in an exasperated tone.

"Well, I'm a little tipsy," she replied. Merlin rolled his eyes but still kept his gaze forward.

"She brought Morgause back to life, is what you're saying?" Arthur asked.

"Not only did she bring Morgause back to life, she made them immortal," Merlin answered. "She drew from the life forces of all the people dying around them on the battle field. Took in their energy and stored it away to keep themselves sustained for however long they pleased. But that wasn't enough."

"Me," Gwen answered, and Merlin turned to her. "She came after me, because I was-" Gwen stopped suddenly as she huffed and shut her eyes as she shook her head. Merlin wondered if some of Gwen's memory was coming back. Arthur turned to Gwen, concern in his eyes, as he reached out to stroke her cheek.

"You were what?" Arthur asked.

"I was pregnant," Gwen answered in a breath as she looked up at Arthur. "You weren't the last Pendragon, Arthur."

"Clever," Morgana said from her end of the room. "I mean that sincerely, by the way."

"I think it would be best not to speak for right now," Merlin suggested as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"You were… pregnant?" Arthur asked and Gwen nodded slowly.

"That was thousands of years ago, Arthur," Morgana said, despite Merlin's warning. "Really, I think it's time let it go, and move on."

"You killed her because she was-"

"Oh, you're mistaken," Morgana interrupted as she narrowed her eyes at Arthur. "I didn't kill her," she added, her voice eerily sinister. Merlin drew in a deep breath that sounded shaky when exhaled. Eyes shifted to him.

"Merlin?" Gwen asked slowly.

"Morgana and Morgause moved on the palace, and I raced back to help smuggle you through one of the drains that led past the city walls. I planned on taking you both over the border to the next kingdom, and you would have the child, and raise him to be the next king," Merlin explained, eyes shifting between Gwen and Elyan. "Morgause got to you first. She wounded both of you, but not enough to kill you. I tried to us my magic to fight her off, but she was too powerful after everything she'd done. We tried to run, but we didn't get very far, and-" Merlin stopped suddenly, his stomach twisting at the thousand year old memory coming to life again before his eyes. "It was your idea, Gwen."

"What was?" Gwen asked, sounding almost afraid of what answer she'd receive.

"You killed yourself to let me take your life force to make me stronger."

"Powerful kid that one in you," Morgana put in, but Merlin ignored the comment.

"Elyan did it next, even though I begged him not to. It was enough for me to freeze Morgause, and with the battle going on, I got enough magic to make myself immortal as well. I got lucky banishing Morgause to an in-between world that's neither here nor there. She's immortal, can't be killed, yet I managed to push her out of his life as well. Camelot was done," Merlin finished and turned his eyes to Arthur.

"And you two?" Arthur asked as he lifted an arm to motion between Morgana and Merlin. "When did that start, hm? It's obvious there's something there. You aren't as well versed in secrets anymore, Merlin. A few weeks after the fall of Camelot?"

"That isn't fair," Merlin replied, voice harsher than Arthur had ever heard it before. "Everything I worked for went up in flames that night, Arthur. You think I didn't try to save you? That I didn't try to protect you? But you were stubborn! You were hardheaded and ridiculous! You wouldn't run with Gwen when I begged you too. You insisted that you going down with your city or stand by it when it triumphed. You were dead that night. Everyone at this table was dead that night. I had nobody left, I had nothing left, Arthur. Camelot and Albion were done."

"Then when?"

"It's unimportant," Morgana put in before Merlin could answer. Merlin shut his eyes and lowered his head a bit as she tried to gain control of his own emotional state. "Nothing of that matters. We are only concerned with-"

"It doesn't matter?" Arthur questioned. "It's a conflict of interests, I think."

"Then you're a fool," Morgana replied sharply. She put her glass down rather dramatically, the force of the movement causing some of the drink to splash out onto the table top. "This isn't Camelot, Arthur. And anything you think is here, isn't. We are solely concerned with Morgause and her growing magic."

"You made her immortal, and you want us to believe that now you want her dead?" Arthur questioned.

"Banished, not dead," Morgana replied sharply.

"What, don't want to kill your sister?"

"I couldn't kill her any more than I could kill you now," Morgana replied, voice hard and loud as her eyes narrowed at Arthur. The implication was clear in her words; Morgause was as much her sister as Arthur was her brother. Furthermore, that was obviously a subject best left untouched.

"Alright," Merlin said, pulling attention to him, though Arthur and Morgana continued to hold each other's gazes as stubbornly as humanly possible and then some.

"Arthur meant, why do you want to help us now?" Gwen asked, careful to keep her words and tone neutral. Morgana drew in a breath and slowly turned to rest her eyes on Gwen. Arthur resigned to watching Merlin instead.

"I had a vision," Morgana said, still holding Gwen's eyes. "It was after the fall of Camelot. I was looking for-" she stopped suddenly and dropped her eyes to the floor as she cleared her voice. "I wasn't in Camelot, and-"

"Keeping things from us isn't exactly fair, nor will it make us any more comfortable in trusting you," Arthur pointed out sharply. Morgana's eyes were narrowed when she lifted them to her brother.

"I am entitled to my own secrets just as all of you are," Morgana replied.

"Secrets about…?"

"Answering that would defeat the purpose of a secret."

"Enough," Merlin groaned as he turned and stared at Morgana. She rose an eyebrow at him and the two exchanged looks back and forth for a few moments. "Just tell him, it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"Fine," Merlin said with a sigh as he turned to Arthur. "What she was doing after the fall of Camelot is of no consequence, Arthur."

"And you can judge that?"

Merlin sighed again as he ran a hand through his hair. "She was looking for me," he said finally, earning a hit on his shoulder from Morgana. He turned to her and again they stared back and forth until Morgana rolled her eyes and turned forward. "We were…"

"Don't say it," Morgana warned, and Merlin's lips pulled up in an amused smile.

"What word do you prefer then?" he asked her, though his eyes were still on Arthur.

Groaning, Morgana stretched her shoulders and upper back. She's stepped forward to stand beside Merlin at the edge of the table. "We were having a… an affair if you will, that ended that night."

"Because you attacked Camelot, and killed Arthur."

"And you were surprised, because…?" Morgana replied head tilting to look up at Merlin. He bit his tongue as he forced his eyes to stay forward. "Because you knew that-"

"Thank you, that's enough," Merlin told her sharply as he rolled his eyes.

"You were running off with her when you knew she was the biggest enemy against Camelot?" Arthur said, voice hard and angry as he rose to his feet, eyes narrowed at Merlin in one of the coldest glares he'd ever directed to the wizard.

"It's not what you think, Arthur," Merlin started, but he knew that no matter what he said, Arthur would see it the way he wanted. "And it doesn't matter anyway. None of that is even relevant. Morgana had a vision after I banished Morgause, and she went looking for me, but I was gone by then."

"I can't believe you betrayed me like that, Merlin!"

"That is not fair, Arthur!" Morgana yelled back at him before Merlin could even defend himself. "If you weren't so egotistical or hot headed, maybe you'd realize that Merlin never betrayed you at all. He didn't know I was attacking Camelot that night, nor was he aware of my plans. You were the one who made him hide who he was all those years, so I don't see what it is you have to be upset about. You-"

"Morgana," Merlin said, voice lower than usual, as he turned towards her and put a hand on the small of her back. "Let it go, it's fine."

"He's-"

"I know," Merlin said before she could continue. "It doesn't matter anymore what happened after Camelot except your vision, so go on with that."

"Arthur-"

"Morgana," Merlin said strongly. She huffed as she turned forward again, eyes meeting Gwen's as she didn't care one bit for the way anybody else in the room was looking at her and Merlin. In her mind, they were not entitled to the specifics of any relationship or affair she and Merlin might have shared, though at the same time, she saw it terribly unfair for Arthur to accuse Merlin of betraying him when she knew first hand Merlin had stood steadfastly behind Arthur despite how desperately he might've loved her in the past.

"In my vision, Morgause found a way through the banishment, and in returned to this world with her new immortal life and magic. She discovered how powerful she was, and small things like Camelot or England were made irrelevant. She's after something more than that."

Her words about Morgause were enough to shift Arthur's attention from the truth of Merlin's romantic past to the present threat of Morgause. He remained quiet as Merlin nodded to Morgana for her to continue.

"She wants to bring all people with magic together to take over the world and gain as much power as she can. She'll expose magic, make people afraid of it."

"A world with people with magic on top seems to be something you'd like," Arthur commented. Morgana's eyes narrowed as she turned to him.

"She will be unsuccessful in her endeavor if she were allowed to continue," Morgana replied, voice hard and sharp. "If magic is exposed, we will be hunted and tracked down. We will not be free to live the way we do now. Anybody with magic will live in the same fear and terror that we used to during our original lives. That is the only reason I no longer stand with Morgause. She will put an end to the way of life we have now and she doesn't even realize it yet."

"And have you tried speaking with her about this?"

"Well, Gwaine, there's a damn good idea," Morgana said sharply, her head whipped to narrow her eyes directly at him.

"Easy," Merlin said, and Morgana groaned as she turned her eyes to him. "Obviously, we've tried that," Merlin added as he turned to Gwaine. "Morgause feels that particular vision is something that could happen, not necessarily something that will happen."

"That still doesn't mean that we should trust her," Arthur said, and Morgana groaned. Without a word, she turned to walk down the length of the table, stopping in the doorway leading towards the hallway only when Merlin called for her.

"What?" she snapped as she turned back to him.

"Your room is the first one on the third floor," he answered simply, the implication clear in his words and voice: she was staying regardless of anything Arthur said or believed.


End file.
